Page 344
Page 344
"I'm curious... wait, can't I stay for dinner?"
"Meal expenses are 100 gold coins per person."
Fisherman froze, glanced at the sumptuous meal on the table, hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and exclaimed:
"Okay! One hundred it is..."
"Oh, these are for my girls, Serfal! Let's take everyone to the dragon's lair for a picnic!"
"Yay—" Serfa had been drooling on the swing for ages. Hearing this, she leaped up instantly, transformed into a dragon in mid-air, and landed with a thud in the center of the courtyard.
"You, you..." Fisherman couldn't help but clutch his chest, watching Artemis's plant guards sweep away all the food in front of him, feeling like he was about to ascend to heaven to meet the goddess of magic.
"Nassefar is going first!"
Red Dragon glanced back at the girls riding on its back, and with a whoosh, it took off.
Latis and Fisherman stared at each other for a moment, then couldn't help but grin, patting their chests and saying:
"Given that our family's head chefs, Art and Frico, have both gone on a picnic, if you'd like to stay for dinner, I'll have to reluctantly cook you a meal."
"..."
Fisherman was silent for a moment, then his lips twitched. Enraged, he pulled out a hundred gold coins and slammed them on the table, cursing as he said:
"Damn it, eat! Eat the big portion! A hundred gold for Latis's cooking? No, that's a rip-off!"
He gritted his teeth, stared at the gold coins in front of him, took a deep breath, and forced out a question through clenched teeth:
"So, I can stay now?"
"Oh my, you're really generous. Fine, here's a large portion for you." Latis stroked his chin, raised an eyebrow at the resolute-looking Fisherman, then looked at Walmart and Zerris, and asked:
"Principals, are you also staying for lunch?"
"Of course! I want a large one too!"
Zerris tossed out one hundred gold coins without a second thought, laughed heartily, and asked:
"Is 100 gold coins enough? If not, I can add more!"
Latis paused, glanced at Zerris strangely, and frowned, muttering to himself:
"What's wrong with Old Deng today? He seems a bit off. He's not wearing sunglasses anymore; has he turned over a new leaf?"
"One hundred gold whites?"
Walmart mentally calculated his balance, his face paling slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he sighed softly, stood up, gave an awkward smile, and said:
"Then... I'll wait until you're free this afternoon to come. Just send me a message when you're available."
"Does the Walmart principal really have something so important to discuss?"
Latis looked at Walmart's forced smile, revealing his fangs and awkward movements, and felt even more puzzled.
It's worth noting that Walmart didn't even know this was Latis's address when she first arrived in the Mage's Territory. Latis originally thought Walmart was just a half-elf he had met on the road who had once guided his apprentice and wanted to get to know each other. However, after learning about her relationship with Arte, she suddenly became serious, as if she had made up her mind.
"Alright, Walmart principal, you can just stay here. It's too much trouble for you to walk around."
Latis shook his head, stood up, and tried to press Walmart's shoulder to make her sit back down, but Walmart was too short, and when he reached out, he could only touch her head.
"..."
Latis and a bewildered Walmart stared at each other for a moment, and then Latis couldn't hold back any longer.
"Hey bro, what's with you being so short?!"
He took a deep breath, patted Walmart on the head without changing his expression, laughed, and then instantly took off from his seat and rushed towards the kitchen.
"I'll go get you two large portions! I'll be right back!"
Latis's voice faded into the distance. Walmart scratched his head blankly, glanced at the two principals beside him, and sat back down in his seat in a daze.
Zerris pretended not to see anything, nudged Fisherman beside him, and asked:
"Old Fei, what brings you here today?"
"...It's hard to say." It would be too embarrassing for the school's production base to be invaded, and there were too many problems with trying to build a production line on someone else's property. Fisherman could only twitch his lips and brush it off.
"And what about you, Walmart's principal?" Zerris looked at Walmart, who was still in a daze.
Walmart came to her senses and didn't know how to explain it for a moment. She had originally wanted to talk to the mysterious guide about the apprenticeship, and wanted to ask if they could help take in some apprentices who were struggling financially to work here.
But after seeing Latis, she felt that given Latis's mysterious identity, there might be other solutions, so she decided to have a detailed talk with Latis.
However, Walmart wasn't very familiar with Latis either. Apart from knowing that he was a powerful spellcaster and had Lady Oriana's guarantee, he didn't know much about his personality.
So she wasn't sure if a peaceful conversation was even possible, and could only sigh and say:
"Hard to say……"
She paused, looked at Zerris, her eyes suddenly sharpening, and revealed a fanged smile as she asked:
"And what about you, Principal Zerris? What are you doing here? Where's Principal Richman?"
Seeing this, Fisherman quickly looked at Zerris and echoed:
"Yeah, yeah, you're only asking us, what about you?"
"I……"
Zerris was about to confidently say that he had important business to attend to, but then he realized that there was no way he could talk to anyone about this "important business"!
After Silvershur left, he had no interest in checking the homework of the students in the Department of Diplomacy. He hurriedly tripled the amount of homework and then used his magic cloak to follow Silvershur all the way to the Mage Territory. Sure enough, he then met his "son-in-law" Latis.
Silvershur, who was cooking for Latis at the time, was quite surprised to see him. Zerris was also a little embarrassed that he had been too impulsive. However, since he was already there, he decided to stay and have a good talk with Latis about the diplomatic negotiations to come, and find an opportunity to secretly give him some important powers.
Moreover, he had heard in the past few days that Latis was about to face the assessment of newly promoted nobles. Thinking that Latis might bring Silver Xiuer to the capital, Zerris also wanted to take the opportunity to persuade Latis to give him his manor in the capital, so that it could serve as a place for his daughter and son-in-law to settle down, which could be considered as a small compensation he could make.
However, how could he possibly tell Principal Fisherman and Principal Walmart about something like this? Given how unreliable those two are, if he dared to say it today, the whole of Lundia might know about it tomorrow, not to mention Principal Richman, who has an even better relationship with them!
If that old man Rickman found out, Zerris believed he would probably never escape the shadow of being mocked by Rickman for the rest of his life.
Thinking of this, he subconsciously adjusted his sunglasses, only to find that he had already crushed them. He coughed awkwardly, then said without changing his expression:
"Hard to say."
……
"Ugh! I'll talk, I'll talk! Ugh..."
"I confessed too... ugh..."
Latis looked at Fisherman and Zerris, who were both kneeling on the ground retching, with great displeasure, and muttered under his breath:
"What do you mean by this? Is eating my cooking like going to the execution ground?"
“No…it’s my problem…” Zerris said, tears streaming down his face as he covered his cheeks, “It’s my stomach…it can’t handle the rich magical reactions in the food…”
“It’s me, it’s me…” Fisherman said listlessly, slumped on the armrest of the chair, mouth agape, hiccuping.
"I just can't understand the proportions of ingredients in the food; it's too profound... too mysterious..."
"Damn it..." Latis took a deep breath, couldn't help but raise his middle finger, and fiercely scorned the two old men's taste.
"hiss……"
Walmart huddled to the side, trembling with fear. She hadn't expected to escape unscathed by not being able to pay for her meal. At that moment, she was filled with terror of Latis, whose image in her mind had risen to the level of a magical monster.
Actually, she was filled with curiosity when she saw her two colleagues fall to their deaths instantly, so she secretly took a bite herself and immediately understood why they were so pathetic.
Admittedly, as a foodie born and raised in the East, Latis has seen how to cook even if he has never eaten pork. He is quite skilled at various cooking methods such as frying, steaming, boiling, braising, and stewing. With his strong physique, he can even make Wensi Tofu with ease. The dish is simply very beautiful.
However, this very fact deceived Fisherman and Jerris. When they took a big bite, they didn't feel anything at first, but they only realized something was wrong after swallowing it. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Yes, Latis, the god of takeout, had never cooked in his previous life, so he only had one standard for all ingredients—moderate amount! This caused him a lot of trouble. As a god who could eat anything without any dietary restrictions, Latis did not mind occasionally being a little salty or a little spicy. He was a super heavy-flavor expert.
Furthermore, to ensure the appearance of the dishes, Latis meticulously minced ingredients such as scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers, completely concealing them inside the ingredients to maintain their visual appeal.
Unfortunately, the two middle-aged men, who were already experiencing a midlife crisis, had stomach problems to begin with and were used to the bland food in the school cafeteria. When they first tried this terrifying dish, their stomachs churned so badly that they almost questioned their existence.
Walmart watched this scene helplessly. She, who was used to being sharp-tongued and sarcastic, was suddenly filled with pity. The taste was acceptable to her, who came from a humble background. Commoners do rely on strong-flavored foods to get through the cold winter in Norard.
However, for the two principals who were not particularly worried about their lives, it might have been a huge shock to their worldview.
Latis reluctantly stroked his chin, but in the end, he still reluctantly served the guys some Western-style pastries.
Western-style desserts made with only sugar, milk, flour, and oil are indeed much easier to make than Chinese dishes.
……
……
After some hesitant conversation, Latis finally figured out the purpose of these principals.
Coincidentally, just as he finished the simulation, he was thinking that he would probably have a hard time getting the support of the three schools of Lundia from the Queen, but the opportunity came so unexpectedly.
However, upon closer inspection, Principal Fisherman got in because a bird happened to discover something unusual in the production workshop, Principal Walmart got in because he found that the apprentices had a good relationship with Atelier, who had extradited them, and Principal Zerris got in because of the diplomatic negotiation plan... Wait, something seems off.
Latis narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the somewhat guilty Zerris, and pondered for a moment.
He recalled the excited yet somewhat guilty and embarrassed expression on Zerris's face when he saw Silver Shul, and felt that he should have guessed the answer.
Old Deng must have discovered Silver Hugh's background from somewhere, but as expected, he ultimately chose not to reveal his identity.
As someone who had been a corporate slave for ten years in his previous life but still lived in a rented room, Latis could understand Old Deng's feelings. However, as a spirited and ambitious young man in this life, Latis couldn't help but mentally criticize Zerris's indecisiveness.
While understandable, this is never what Latis will do in his life. His current ambition is to ensure that he and all the girls around him live a happy life, no matter what.
However, upon closer examination, the reason why these three principals all took a step closer to him was actually related to the girls around him... Oh no, now he really is a gigolo.
Latis couldn't help but rub his forehead. Sometimes, it doesn't seem like a good thing when girls are too amazing...
He sighed slightly, then quickly thought of how to use the current situation to create a new one.
First, there's Principal Fisherman's production line. We can agree to let him relocate here. Things like "Magic Network Nodes" are crucial foundations for our future confrontation with the Queen. Moreover, since Black Hat hasn't obtained the data on "Magic Network Nodes," the Queen's "Magic Network Landing Campaign" will likely suffer a serious setback. After all, creating a localized Magic Network through "Magic Network Nodes" is one of the Queen's fundamental methods.
And he didn't need to worry about outsiders entering and leaving the mage's territory. Although the Walmart principal's concern seemed to be about the living difficulties of individual apprentices, it was actually because Qing Teng Academy was now exceeding its capacity to accommodate ordinary students and could no longer support the educational expenses of so many students.
Therefore, Herod Magedom can take in some apprentices first, and once the framework is up and running, it can establish an academy. This is something that Lady Oriana would support. In the simulation, Oriana lamented that if there were an academy that directly connected with the Mage Association, she wouldn't be so weak and alone.
So the apprentices operating the production line were settled. As for what Zeris actually wanted to do, Latis would have to talk to him privately. However, he guessed that he would most likely get Zeris's help in his future actions in the capital.
Looking at it this way, I've taken a huge step forward in an instant.
Latis took a deep breath, looked at the plan he had written on the blank scroll, nodded slightly to the principals, and involuntarily looked up at the sky and smiled.
With all three schools slightly compromised, is the Queen's plan still as perfect as it seems?
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